Another volunteer job has been typing a data base for the nonfiction books in our church library. When I arrive it seems there is always something interesting left out or in the room that houses the library. Today there was a cute little baby dress…navy blue with white polka-dots.
As I type I’ve been given “permission” to weed discretely. At first it seemed easy. I had some informal rules I was using:
- · The spine is broken
- · The pages are yellowed
- · No one or only one has checked it out in past five years
- · It has a copyright older than 1980 (I picked a date) I’ve since learned that some libraries use 10 or 5 years old.
When I reached the reference works related to bible study, commentary, parallel scriptures the decisions became more difficult. So I emailed my friend, Allison, a librarian and researched online for church libraries. “Weeding” it seems can be fraught with potholes. It is also recommended that church libraries have a committee of 3 to 5 to serve on the “weeding” committee!
MUSTY is an acronym offered by Joseph Segal, in his book, Evaluating and Weeding the
Collection. In addition to objective decisions MUSTY stands for Misleading, Ugly, Superseded, Trivial, and Your collection.
M – Misleading. The book is factually inaccurate.
U – Ugly. The book is worn and beyond mending or rebinding.
S – Superceded. There is a new edition available.
T – Trivial. The book is of no discernible merit.
Y – Your collection has not real need for this book. Duplicate books? Does the public library cover it better?
Years ago my mom helped in the church library, so as I look at each book, I often recognize her handwriting. She was a librarian and I remember her taking the classes that led to her certification when I was in high school. Later, she shared her skills in assigning Dewey numbers to the church library books.
This job also feeds me with more books I find to read!
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